Baseball Bash continues as a success

Roberts continues to impact the Chesapeake community

Brian Roberts hosted the third annual Brian's Baseball Bash on Sunday night. The event, held at the Inner Harbor ESPNZone, is a joint charity venture between Roberts and OriolesREACH to raise funds for the University of Maryland Hospital for Children at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Parents, kids and fans packed in to interact with players, play games and participate in auctions.

"Now it doesn't catch me by surprise, but the first year I was blown away," Roberts told MLB.com. "I had no idea what to expect. With everyone working together, I never would have envisioned what it turned out to be like the first time. Now I still get blown away but I know what to expect. I get more chills and excitement from seeing new people and from hearing stories from kids, the whole experience."

Jeter sets hits record at Yankee Stadium: On the same day he was named a finalist for the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award that honors community service, Derek Jeter achieved a record that will never be broken.

Jeter got his 1,270th hit at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday to pass Lou Gehrig for first place on the all-time hits list at the fabled ballpark that will be demolished following the season. There are only five games remaining at Yankee Stadium.

"It's kind of hard to enjoy it because we lost the game," Jeter told Newsday. "I definitely appreciate everything the fans have done. They've been great my entire career."

Lilly the latest to shine on Cubs staff: Just one day after Carlos Zambrano tossed a no-hitter in Milwaukee against the Houston Astros, Ted Lilly allowed just one hit to the Astros over seven innings. In what would eventually become a 6-1 Cubs victory, Lilly gave up no runs on just the one hit while striking out nine.

"I haven't seen a no-hitter followed by a one-hitter ever," Cubs manager Lou Piniella told the Chicago Tribune. "Our pitching was spectacular here."

"I thought about [the no-hitter] during the sixth inning," Lilly said. "And after what Z did, it would've been fun to do something that I'm not sure has been done yet. You don't know if you'll ever have that opportunity again, but I'll take it the way it was."

Lewis getting used to scoreless outings: With six scoreless innings on Monday night in Cleveland's 3-1 win over the Twins, Scott Lewis has now thrown 14 straight scoreless innings to open his Major League career.

"I've surprised myself," Lewis, who is 2-0, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "I've always been pretty confident, but I never expected to do this well this early. I couldn't be happier with the way things are going."

Davies finds his groove in victory: Kyle Davies tossed eight shutout innings on Monday night in the Royals' 3-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners. While giving up just four singles and walking nobody, Davies struck out eight batters and needed only 98 pitches to get through the eighth.

"That's the tempo I need," Davies told the Kansas City Star. "Everything I've been working on since the start of the season has been to start pitching like this -- to try to be as aggressive as possible and limit my pitch count.

"It's not easy to do, and I'm not saying I won't have more hiccups along the way, but I've got to have that tempo and that ability to throw the ball and have them swing at my pitches. I can't fall behind 2-0 and have to battle back."

Hinckley speechless after clutch performance: Mike Hinckley has become a clutch lefty reliever for the Nationals. He came on with two on and one out in the eighth inning on Tuesday night and got a forceout and a strikeout to end the inning and preserve Washington's one-run lead in a 1-0 win over Mets.

"I don't have a whole lot to say," Hinckley told the Washington Post, "because, I mean, it's kind of overwhelming."

"Oh, this kid -- unbelievable," said Odalis Pérez, who earned the win. "He's got great stuff. And I don't think anybody knows him."

Blake back to being himself in L.A.: In addition to Manny Ramirez, another midseason acquisition by the Dodgers has been a big contributor. Third baseman Casey Blake played his 48th game with the Dodgers on Tuesday night and hit his 10th home run for the club.

"It's fun now," Blake, who was acquired from the Cleveland Indians, told the Los Angeles Times. "I feel I can come in here and be myself, act like an idiot, be loud and joke and laugh."

"I like it here," Blake added. "I'm going to keep my options open. These guys have been great to me."

Gallagher impressive in earning second win: Sean Gallagher did not allow any walks, and the result was seven innings of one-run ball and his second win for Oakland on Tuesday night.

"Stick with my strength, pound the zone," Gallagher told the San Francisco Chronicle. "Last time, I tried to paint everything, make it perfect. Tonight I just worried about throwing strikes and getting ahead."

Bedard's season comes to an end: Erik Bedard will undergo exploratory surgery on his throwing shoulder on Sept. 26 to find the source of tightness that has kept him on the disabled list since July 10.

"Erik explored all the opportunities to throw and kept throwing, but just wasn't making any progress," Mariners manager Jim Riggleman told the Seattle Times. "He wasn't feeling good enough to really get on the mound and pitch."

Cabrera shares weekly league honors: After hitting .455 last week with three doubles, a home run and eight RBIs, Asdrubal Cabrera was named the co-American League Player of the Week last week along with Minnesota's Carlos Gomez.

"He's had a great developmental year," Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. "Talk about building a foundation for yourself, he's done that mentally, physically and fundamentally. Last year, he played great for us, but he just kind of blew through it."

Gallardo on comeback trail: Yovani Gallardo is inching closer to returning to the Brewers staff. The right-hander was scheduled to pitch a simulated game on Friday in Phoenix before returning to the Brewers for the final week of the season. He has been shelved since suffering a knee injury on May 1 at Wrigley Field.

"There was always a chance that he would pitch before the end of the season," assistant manager Gord Ash told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "We didn't count on it. The approach was if he came back it would be a bonus. We didn't want to put pressure on him by putting a timetable on it."

Haren gets back on track: Dan Haren allowed four hits and two walks to the Giants on Tuesday night to record his first career shutout and sixth complete game.

"Obviously, I've had my struggles, but it's nice to get this feeling again," Haren told The Arizona Republic after the 2-0 victory. "I've been searching for it for a while."

Antonelli takes liking to thin air: Matt Antonelli has already taken a liking to Coors Field. The Padres rookie hit the first home run of his career there on Monday night in the Padres' 11-5 win over the Rockies.

"The way we got off in the first, getting hits all over the place, I thought, 'I guess it's true -- this is a hitter's ballpark,' " Antonelli told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Byrd flying high at season's end: Marlon Byrd's late-season surge continued on Tuesday night when he followed a two-run triple in the ninth inning with the game-winning run in the Rangers' 5-4 win over the Tigers. Byrd, nursing a knee injury, extended his hitting streak to nine games.

"The season's not over," Byrd told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "If you're not going to keep battling, we don't want you here. Everybody on this team right now is battling."

"The one thing you've got to understand about Marlon is that guy is a fighter," manager Ron Washington said. "He doesn't ever quit."

Lowrie a jack of all infield trades: Rookie Jed Lowrie is making his versatility known to the Red Sox. It's becoming the norm for him to start a game at shortstop, move to third during the game, then move back to shortstop. Lowrie has played error-free at shortstop this season.

"It's a completely different angle," Lowrie told the Boston Herald. "When you throw the ball across the diamond, it's a different angle. When you turn the double play, it's a different angle. Angles off the bat are different.

"It's just a slight mental adjustment when you move back and forth, but one that has to be made."

Springer provides sage advice to young pitchers: Russ Springer likes what he sees among the younger members of the Cardinals bullpen.

"These are high-stakes, high-stress innings," Springer told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "You can't be nervous. You can't lack confidence. You've got to believe in your stuff and you've got to be confident, borderline cocky. These young guys all have that mentality. I've played with guys who are scared. These guys aren't. What they lack is experience. They have the abilities, they just have to learn.